Hope for dreamers after the Supreme Court decision, but their future remains uncertain

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June 29th, 2020

Dreamer and Activist, Fatima Flores at town hall meeting via Zoom

OMAHA – More than 3000 Dreamers or DACA recipients call Nebraska home, Maria Marquez is a Dreamer. She arrived at Omaha when she was five years old and she wants a permanent change in her immigration status.

“It is hard not to feel like that DACA recipients or dreamers are puppets to congress because they want to use us as leverage to pass bills. This is just a reminder that we as a community have to keep fighting for a more permanent solution,” Marquez, said.

Marquez graduated from UNO in 2015, and now, she is getting a master’s degree in Students Affairs in Higher Education. She enjoys working with students and likewise wants to stay in Omaha and raise a family.

In June, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of DACA recipients. The Supreme Court agrees with the lower courts’ decision that the Trump administration illegally terminated the program. This decision reinstates the program in its totality, as established in 2012 by the Obama administration.

In Omaha, The Immigrant Legal Center hosted an online town hall meeting to give information for DACA recipients, after the recent decision of the Supreme Court.

Alexis Steele, a policy Stuff Attorney at the Immigrant Legal Center, worries about some immediate consequences, one of them, the compliance that the government will create to accept renewals and new applications.

Alexis Steele, from the Immigrant Legal Center. Town Hall meeting in Zoom, after Supreme Court decision on DACA.

“This unexpected victory, which unfortunately is unexpected and says a lot about and how critical is to act now to secure DACA or rather to secure a pathway to citizenship that is clean for DACA recipients,” Steele, said.

For now, the main factors for DACA qualifications are age, presence in the United States, and level of education.

The executive order to be a “dreamer” includes being in school or discharged from the military and above all not having been convicted of any crime or posing a threat to national security.

Activist and Dreamer Fatima Flores feels as if she is in “limbo”, and she thinks the system is failing her.

“And what does that mean is that I have consistently shown that I am a good person for this country, I still don’t know if I am going to be able to live through and an administration that is ultimately trying to squash us out,” Flores, said.  

Fatima Flores via Zoom, dreamer and activist. Arrived to Omaha at the age of 6.

Flores lived in Omaha since she was 6 years old. She graduated from UNO and after a short celebration, she is advocating for a clear path to citizenship for dreamers.

For now, the supreme court decision is positive news for Dreamers, but the time frame for renewals and new applicants is unclear at the moment. There is a possibility that the DACA filing fee will increase.

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